Victoria Niederhauser

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted routine childhood vaccinations schedules, posing significant challenges among underserved communities. Understanding how different sociodemographic groups in Tennessee perceive and navigate childhood vaccination barriers is critical for developing strategies to improve vaccination rates and reduce vulnerability to vaccine-preventable diseases. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted to explore barriers to vaccination across diverse sociodemographic groups in Tennessee. Data were collected from caregivers/parents of children aged 18 years and younger across all 95 counties in Tennessee at community events and through partnerships with schools and other local organizations. Parental responses were analyzed to identify barriers in access, concern, and importance domains. The distribution of barriers across different sociodemographic groups such as race, income, education level, and insurance status was identified. Descriptive statistics, non-parametric tests, and log-binomial regressions were used to address the research objectives. Results: This study found that the most prominent barriers to childhood vaccination were concerns regarding vaccine safety and side effects. Significant differences in vaccine barriers were observed across racial and ethnic groups for access barriers (p < 0.001), concern barriers (p = 0.006), and importance barriers (p < 0.001). Parents with lower education levels, children without health insurance, and lower-income families faced disproportionate challenges across two of the three barrier domains studied (access and perceived importance of vaccines). Additionally, concern barriers (aPR = 0.998, p < 0.001) and importance barriers (aPR = 0.997, p < 0.001) were strongly associated with the parent-reported prevalence of up-to-date vaccination status. Conclusions: Addressing parental vaccination barriers related to concern, access, and perceived importance is crucial, particularly for underserved populations including low-income families, uninsured parents, racial/ethnic minorities, and those with limited education. A sustained, equity-focused approach integrating scientific communication, community engagement, and policy interventions is essential for increasing vaccine uptake and ensuring equitable vaccination access.

According to the Immunization Status Survey conducted by the Tennessee Department of Health in 2023, Tennessee ranks in the bottom 25th percentile among states for vaccination rates by the age of 24 months, based on the full series of recommended vaccines. To tackle this issue, the SmartSHOTS mobile application was developed to reduce barriers to vaccinations for children aged 0-24 months. The app includes features such as vaccine information, the ability to add and calculate vaccine due dates, and the ability to locate health departments and transportation services based on zip codes. The app was developed and usability tested using an iterative design process, based on a needs assessment conducted across regions of Tennessee with community members who served on the state’s county health council. These community members also reviewed the app wireframes. Parents or guardians of children aged 0-24 months are currently evaluating the app (preliminary findings reported here). SmartSHOTS will then be available on Google Play and the Apple Store.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the campus resource utilization experiences of university students with childhood domestic violence exposure (CDV) histories. Participants: 368 students attending a large, flagship, land-grant, predominantly White university in the Southeastern United States. Methods: Participants completed a web-based survey with variables including CDV, campus resource utilization and perceptions of said resources, and participant resource suggestions. Results: Most students utilized at least one health-related campus resource, with the student health and counseling centers being the most common and helpful. Suggested areas for institutional and service provider growth include enhanced advertisement and accessibility for existing resources and added support groups. Conclusions: College campuses provide unique opportunities to support young adults with CDV histories. Tailoring programming to students with CDV histories has the potential to improve student's success in and beyond college.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the campus resource utilization experiences of university students with childhood domestic violence exposure (CDV) histories. Participants: 368 students attending a public, 4-year university in the Southeastern United States. Methods: Participants completed a web-based survey with variables including CDV, campus resource utilization and perceptions of said resources, and participant resource suggestions. Results: Most students utilized at least one health-related campus resource, with the student health and counseling centers as the most common and helpful. Suggested areas for institutional and service provider growth include enhanced advertisement and accessibility for existing resources and added support groups. Conclusions: College campuses provide unique opportunities to support young adults with CDV histories. Tailoring programming to students with CDV histories has the potential to improve student's success in and beyond college.

Health care organizations recognize that it is difficult to achieve consistent excellence in patient experience. Nursing leaders cannot underestimate the importance of the role they play in efforts to improve the patient experience. This article outlines a call to action for nurse leaders to consider reframing the patient experience as a focal point for the entire organization's strategic approach and tactics. This involves facilitating a dialogue about the organization's patient experience definition; building a strong, positive organization culture; creating processes to ensure the engagement of all voices; ensuring a focus across the continuum of care; and addressing the key drivers of patient experience excellence.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore if parental barriers to childhood immunizations change over time.Design and Sample: Using secondary data, a pretest post‐test design was employed to measure changes in parental barriers to childhood immunizations in the first 7 months of life. Thirty‐nine parent/infant dyads were included in this study.Measures: The Searching for Hardship and Obstacles to Shots (SHOTS) Survey was completed by a parent when their infant was between one and 28 days old (prior to their first immunizations) and again when the child was 6–7 months of age.Results: In this study, parental barriers to immunizations decreased over time. Specifically, six individual items related to accessing immunizations decreased from baseline to 7 months of age. In addition, the Access to Shots subscale decreased significantly (p = 0.010) between the two time periods. In less educated parents, the Importance of Immunizations subscale decreased over time.Conclusion: Given the findings and trends in changes identified in this study, more exploration is necessary to understand what parental barriers change over time and how these changes affect immunization rates in early infancy.

Commentary on: Ames HM, Glenton C, Lewin S, et al . Parents’ and informal caregivers’ views and experiences of communication about routine childhood vaccination: a synthesis of qualitative evidence. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2017;2:CD011787. Providing parents or primary caretakers with information about childhood vaccinations has been a long-standing practice …

Parental barriers to childhood immunizations vary among countries, states and communities. There is a plethora of studies that exist to examine barriers to immunizations including many intervention studies designed to improve immunization rates in children. Often, intervention studies designed to minimize barriers and increase immunization uptake among children lack the inclusion of a standardized instrument to measure accurately parental barriers to childhood immunizations before and after interventions. The Searching for Hardships and Obstacles To Shots (SHOTS) survey is a standardized survey instrument to measure parental barriers to childhood immunizations. In several studies, the SHOTS survey has demonstrated consistent reliability and has been validated in diverse populations. The inclusion of the SHOTS survey instrument in studies to examine barriers to childhood immunization will provide researchers and clinicians with a better understanding of parents' individualized barriers to immunizations. Furthermore, use of the SHOTS survey instrument to collect information about parental barriers to immunizations can lead to targeted interventions to minimize these obstacles at the individual and community level and to help us to achieve our national, state and community childhood immunization goals.